> If you do your petitioning and then get shot by a government agent, then the piece of paper giving you the right is worthless and you don't really have the right.

Hard disagree, there is no evidence that the agent acted in that exact way at the instruction of the government, I do not believe that it makes people's rights worth any less.

To me this is like saying rights are somehow fundamentally useless just because murderers exist in the world. Or accidents. Makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.